Exchange
by ladyjellyfish
Summary: Ichigo applies to a student exchange program. When he arrives to the new country he meets new friends and has new experiences. That was what he was expecting. He never expected to fall in love. maleXmale
1. Chapter 1

Being an exchange student will be rough. You will leave behind your family, friends and everything that is familiar and safe. You will arrive to a whole different culture, where everything is new and strange. The first few weeks will be the roughest. You´ll miss your family and friends, you feel like you can´t handle it but if you look around and open up your mind you will notice how wonderful it can be. You will meet new people and create bonds of friendship that can last for a lifetime. When it is time to return home, you might find it difficult to say goodbye.

This is what Ichigo Kurosaki was told when he applied to a student exchange program.

His father Isshin Kurosaki was extremely proud of his son. After all it was in public knowledge that getting into an exchange program was quite difficult. Your grades had to be good and you wouldn´t get in with your grades. The members of the committee would call you to an interview, where they would ask questions, based on your answers they´ll evaluate your personality. They do that because they want to be sure that the student is responsible and can handle studying in a foreign land.

Ichigo passed all their 'tests' with clear marks, so the red head easily got in into the program. The students, who applied had no influence in the matter of their destination. Where they would be spending the next year? No one knew. They told the applicants that detailed information of their destiny and schedule would be sent to them in mail. All that they were given was the date when their flight would be.

When they would arrive to the destination they would meet their host families. Yes, host families. The students would change the family they were staying few times during the year. It was organized that way for their benefit and for the host families. If you thought about it you would see the reason. If you were to stay in a one family for the whole year, think how awkward it would be if you wouldn´t get along with the family you were staying with. Thought they were told that getting a horrible host family was extremely rare if not impossible.

They were also given some rules that they were supposed to follow. The rules included things like no alcohol, no drugs and no romantic relationships. The red head was highly skeptical, he didn´t believe that the first and third rule would be followed at all but he did believe that most wouldn´t try drugs, because if it somehow got out, the organization would fly them home immediately. That was the case with alcohol too but people would probably still do that. Ichigo himself didn´t drink alcohol like most of his age did. He preferred to remember things and to be able to control his actions. Sure he drank sometimes with friends but only somewhere where he knew he would be out of trouble. Romantic relationships? Some asked of the matter and they were told that having relationship was okay but only if it didn´t affect your studies.

Ichigo started to pack his things early on, so that he wouldn´t end up noticing on the night before the flight that he hadn´t haven´t even started yet. His little sisters were very helpful during the packing. They were looking up stuff for him and constantly asking if he had remembered to take something and should they get it to him if he hadn´t. In three days the red head had completed packing everything that he believed he might need. He left some space in his suitcases. He was sure that he would end up buying some clothes there and of course he would have to bring souvenirs to Karin and Yuzu, when he would return.

On the night before he left, his friends had organized a party for him. They stayed up late eating snacks, playing games and talking. When Ichigo left home it was late. He would be able to sleep 6 hours before he needed to get up and start heading to the airport. He would need to open up his other suitcase to add the present had received from his friends. It was a photo-album, which was filled with pictures of his friends and him, their hang-out places and his family. A chuckle escaped the red head´s lips as he recalled the giving of his present. His friends had been so serious. The even gave him a speech, in which they said that they had decided to give the album, because they didn´t want that Ichigo would forget them and it would probably be nice to show the album to his host families. It would tell them about the red head and if needed it would work out as something to start talking in case they were missing topics.

The morning of Ichigos flight was hectic. They almost forgot his other bag home and had to return to get it. The red head was the last one to arrive and immediately when he got there they were told to say goodbyes to their families, when they were finished with their farewells they would head to the check in.

The red head let go of his bags and turned to face his father. For a short moment they just looked into each other eyes before, like from a mutual agreement both men moved forward. Ichigo met his dad in a bone crushing hug.

"Dad, I can´t breathe!" The red heads father loosened his death grip and finally let go of his son a goofy smile plastered over his face.

"Sorry about that son". His father´s face looked like he could start crying any minute but it was no wonder his father was emotional. He was a single parent since his wife had passed away, so when it got to his children he sometimes tended to get a little overprotective.

Ichigo could feel someone pulling the hem of his shirt and when he looked down he saw his little sister, Yuzu with tears forming in her bright chocolate brown eyes. Ichigos face immediately melted to a soft smile. He lowered himself to his sisters' level and pulled her to a gentle embrace. Yuzu´s twin sister was standing few steps away. Her attention was clearly fixed on her siblings and she didn´t try to cover it. Karin had always been somewhat boyish girl so it was no surprise to her brother that she stood there looking but when Ichigo looked into her eyes and opened his other arm smiling even the boyish Karin ran to her brothers arms. Ichigo hugged his sisters and they hugged him back with equal affection. They stayed like that for a moment until Ichigo spoke.

"Take care of dad for me, okay?" His sisters simultaneously looked up and nodded. Yuzu was smiling thought tears were still running from her eyes. Karin´s face was passive, she never was one to show her feelings to others, unlike their father who had started to remind a waterfall.

"Okay, take your luggage and follow me. We will be going to the checking now and then straight to the security check, take your passports ready." Everyone started to follow the lady who had spoken. Ichigo included.

When Ichigo had rounded the corner and his family could no longer see him they started to walk back to their car. Yuzu carefully approached their father and slid her small hand to his father's bigger one.

"Will Ichi-nii be fine?" She asked with the most sincere voice, her brows turned to a worried frown. Her father smiled and reassured his daughter.

"He´ll be fine, his a big boy already"


	2. Chapter 2

Ichigo was excited. This was the first time he was going to a foreign land without his father and the place he was going to go was a country across the ocean called Soul society. It was huge in Ichigo´s standards who was somewhat considered to be a country pumpkin brought up in a small town which population was a little over 220 people. Ichigo had never thought he hated living in that town but he had always wanted to see how things are elsewhere. In his hometown Karakura, he was known by the whole town because of his father, who was the doctor of the town. Now he would be going to a town which held over 50,000 people. The red head had made some research of the town he was to go. He had checked out the structure of the town and found out that even thought there was lot of people living there, they still lived relatively far from each other. Most people had a house of their own. Minority of people lived in block of flats. The flight was long and slowly Ichigo´s lids started to feel heavy, too heavy to keep open. Finally he gave up and let his lids close, allowing himself to drift to a dreamless sleep.

+o0o+o0o+

From the moment the red head arrived to the airport of Soul city everything around him felt like it was moving with the speed of light. Ichigo had never seen so many people in a one place at the same time. The amount of the crowd dazzled him.

After the plane had landed they had went to get their luggage. It didn´t take them long to move away from the airport after that. With a buss, they were taken to a camping site near the city, called 'Rukongai'. There they were told some basic information on the culture of the country and the ways that people acted, also known as traditions. When their week long 'training period' was over, they were given cell phones from the organization and a book with instructions to exchange students. It was about how to handle different situations an exchange student might face. They were told to first try and figure out their possible problems by themselves with the help of their host families and to call the organization if there were things that they were unable to take care off. After that they were fetched from the camping site by their first host family. Ichigo was taken in by the Urahara family. On the car trip from the airport to their home the father of the family, Kisuke Urahara told the red head about his family. His wife was a martial arts teacher and had a training school of her own. They had a young daughter named Soi Fong and a pet cat called Yoru, which had been named by their daughter.

Ichigo instantly took a liking to the family. It reminded him of his own family in some sense. The small girl was usually by her mother's side always agreeing to everything the woman said, idolizing her. Most of the time Kisuke could be found from his shop moving stuff from place to place, 'organizing products'. The red heads relationship with the family was warm and they didn´t have any problems. Even so he didn´t spend his free time with them. He tried to concentrate on his studies, thought it proved to be more difficult to him than he thought. It was not that Ichigo was a terrible student, he just didn´t have any motivation because he had already been 2 months in the town and hadn´t even made a single friend. Back home the red head had been constantly surrounded by friends. He had been the centre of attention and before this he had never been truly alone.

Ichigo flipped his laptop open. As he waited for the device to turn on, he undressed himself, lazily disregarding the pieces of clothing to the floor. The red head dug his closet and slipped inside the clean boxers he had just found.

'Bling'

The red head slumped on the bed pulling the laptop closer. He clicked on the flashing icon which notified him that he had an unread e-mail. The message opened and a smile lit up to the red head´s face when he read who had sent the message. It was his boyfriend from back home, Renji Abarai. The message was short but Ichigo knew Renji had probably used plenty of time thinking what to send.

'_How are you? Everything going good?'_

Ichigo read the two short sentences again and again. He was considering what to answer. After a short while he started to write.

'_I´m fine, thought I still haven´t got any "real" human contact. The people here are just so different when I compare to what they are back home. For example when I have to use the buss here, people are always sitting near the windows and they have their bags beside them on the seat. It´s kinda depressing… Anyway, tomorrow we have a new period startin. I hope I can make some friends. It´s starting to get a little lonely here without you and the others.. love Ichigo.'_

The red head pressed the sent button and after the mail was sent he switched the power of the laptop off. He lifted the device and placed it beside the bed on the floor. Then he proceed slipping between the sheets and closed his eyes, hoping tomorrow would bring something good.

Ichigo should have watched out what he wished because you never know when you might get what you want. In the red head´s case, he had absolutely no idea what tomorrow would bring to him. He had no idea that a chance meeting could change his life upside down.

**AN/:** Sorry this chapter is a little short.

Just because someone might ask it: Yes, Ichi is having a distant-relationship with Renji but that doesn´t mean anything, right? After all I HAVE labeled this to be GrimmIchi-fic and I´m sticking to that.

Reviews are extremely appreciated. They motivate me quite a lot *hinthint*

Thank you for reading.


	3. Chapter 3

Ichigo sighed and continued to play with the pen he was holding. The red head had been spinning the poor object in his fingers for quite a time already. He was sitting on classroom of the school buildings B-wing, waiting for the English teacher to arrive. The teacher was late and it seemed that all the students' hadn´t arrived either. Ichigo was suddenly pulled away from his pondering when someone spoke to him.

"Hi, can I sit here?" The voice belonged to a girl, who stood beside Ichigo´s chair. The girl´s hair was black and short, she looked like a tomboy. Ichigo blinked few times before he answered.

"Ah, sure…" Ichigo followed the girl with his eyes as she sat down to the seat beside him. This had never happened before. This girl was the first person to come up to him like this, first one who didn´t avoid him. Ichigo swallowed, he was desperately hoping that the girl hadn´t taken any romantic interest on him. The girl put her bag to the floor before turning to face the red head.

"My name is Tatsuki Arisawa, what about you?" Ichigo was slightly surprised by the girl's straightforward behavior. It was unlike anything he had yet countered in this place.

"I´m Ichigo, Kurosaki Ichigo. Umm…" Ichigo was fidgeting on his seat, trying to figure out what words he should use, so he wouldn´t hurt the girl´s, Tatsuki´s feelings.

"Are you trying to ask why I came to sit beside you, when there are free seats in other places?" Tatsuki was faster in finding the words Ichigo had wanted to ask and the red head was shocked by the accuracy of her words. The raven haired girl smiled and leaned closer to Ichigo whispering her answer to the red head´s ear.

"It´s quite simple actually; I don´t know anyone else from this class and you seemed pathetic enough to not refuse my company." Before Tatsuki´s explanation, Ichigo had been merely shocked. Now he was absolutely stunned, so there were these kinds of people here too.

They were interrupted by a teacher who came in to the class. The strict looking young woman was followed by few students that barely made it inside before the door was closed. The woman didn´t tell her name. She just announced to them that the she wasn´t the teacher who was supposed to teach them and their real teacher wouldn´t be coming this time. She put a movie to play and told the class that she would be checking on them.

The movie was titled "Holiday", it was about two women, miserable in love, changing apartments for Christmas and falling in love. Tatsuki had told Ichigo that when the red head had wondered what the movie was about, so for the rest of the class Ichigo and Tatsuki weren´t really paying attention to the movie, they were too engrossed in their conversation. They talked and talked and found out that they had quite a lot of in common. When the class ended they left together. Ichigo felt that he could trust the girl, so he had told her about not having any friends. Tatsuki had said that it was weird that the red head didn´t have any friends, he was a nice guy. Ichigo had thanked her, feeling his day get better by minute. The raven haired girl stopped abruptly, falling silent for a moment, before she lifted her head up, eyes shining.

Tatsuki wanted Ichigo to meet her friends. She grabbed the red head´s hand and started to walk. Ichigo let the girl pull him with, not knowing where the girl was headed.

oOooOo

It didn´t take long from them to arrive to their destination AB-hall, which had several tables and few couches where the students could relax between lessons. Tatsuki kept pulling Ichigo behind her and she headed towards a table where Ichigo counted at least 7 people to be sitting. Based on their looks Ichigo would have never placed them under the same category. One girl was like a princess and other like a little lady. One guy looked like a boxer and the other like a scientist. Ichigo was so concentrated on his own thoughts that he missed the introductions.

"Ichigo, are you listening?" A firm tug from Tatsuki returned Ichigo´s attention to the current situation.

"Sorry, I was got caught in thought." Ichigo tied to smile but it came out as a little awkward so he gave up.

"So, as I was saying. Most of our gang is here but there are few that moved to study in the neighboring city. You´ll probably meet them sometime this week." Tatsuki was almost beaming. She clearly enjoyed talking and introducing people.

"Because you seemed to miss the first introduction round I´ll do another. This is Inoue, she´s our little princess as you can see and the guy she´s sitting on top of is Ulquiorra and the only person who has seen his face show any other emotion than the one he is currently showing is Inoue and If you didn´t already draw conclusions from their position then I´ll say it just in case they´re dating." Tatsuki took a deep breath, preparing to continue her marathon.

"The big guy is Chad, he doesn´t talk a lot but his heart is as big as he is. The one with eyeglasses is Ishida and the lady beside him is Rukia and you better not critique her drawings or she´ll kick your ass…" Tatsuki kept introducing people and Ichigo felt relieved and accepted.

Today he would have a positive e-mail to send to Renji.

**AN/: This is even shorter than the last one… It´s really hard for me to split this story into pieces because it is does a little time jump next.**

**I also noticed that I´ve failed to say that this story is actually based on a real story.**

**It´ll take a chapter or two before Grimm makes an appearance, bear with me.**

**Thank you for reading and please review!**


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